 Lessons in Downtown Redevelopment Success: The Story of Schenectady's Comeback
I recently had the opportunity to listen to Ray Gillen, executive director of Schenectady Metroplex, give a presentation on the factors that led to the success of the revitalization effort. Ray listed the five stages of development as they worked in his city, in rough chronological order:
Stage 1: Coffee, Clubs, and Restaurants
Stage 2: Arts and Entertainment
Stage 3: Technology/Office
Stage 4: Housing
Stage 5: Retail
Some of what Ray had to say seemed like basic common sense, but some of it certainly surprised me. Read More
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By Jim Damicis
Benchmarking has become a common practice for economic development. It is used by localities, regions, and states to measure progress and performance on economic indicators against other areas. These indicators typically consider both the capacity and performance of a geographic area in terms of its ability to support future economic growth and its performance on desired economic outcomes.
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Featured Indicator: Lost Energy Expenditures by State
This month's featured indicator addresses the issue of energy self-sufficiency. Many states that import most of their energy are potentially losing out on a large economic stimulus. For example, California spends $117 billion per year on energy. With 68% imported, California's economy is potentially leaking around $80 billion. New York imports 77% of its energy. If we assume that all energy costs the same, New York is leaking $47 billion or 4.2% of its economy to energy imports. The table below shows the top 10 energy importers and their lost energy expenditures as a share of each state's economy.
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Camoin Happenings
Webinar - Preparing the Workforce for Tomorrow's Opportunities: On Thursday, February 21st, Jim Damicis will be co-presenting a webinar with Norma Owen of Avadon Group that explores the shift in employment and occupation trends, as well as discusses strategies to grow a workforce that is ready for tomorrow's opportunities. This webinar is being hosted by the University of Northern Iowa Institute for Decision Making. Click here for more information. Training in Wisconsin: Camoin Associates has been engaged to provide skills enhancement courses to members of the Wisconsin Economic Development Association. We will be providing a full-day conference to practitioners in Wisconsin on the use of economic and fiscal impact analysis for "selling" projects to constituents and stakeholders. |
